everywomanover29 blog

Food, Mood and Women's Health – Be your healthiest, look and feel great!

Archives for January 2016

Autism Intensive – an Online Summit

By 2 Comments

Autism spectrum disorders are the fastest growing developmental disorder in the world today.

In the United States a child is diagnosed every 11 minutes. For the past three decades the rates have increased at an accelerating rate and are currently 1in 68 children; 1 in 48 boys and 1 in 189 girls are affected.

This is the first online Autism Summit. The compilation of experts across multiple disciplines with cutting edge and innovative therapies make this summit unique, with a comprehensive, inclusive, credible approach to a much-debated issue.

This is a new online event I just heard about from one of the hosts Mike Mutzel and have to share. So many topics are equally relevant when it comes to anxiety (in many interviews you could replace the word autism with anxiety as there are so many overlaps). Of course, if you do have loved ones or patients/clients with autism then this event is not to be missed.

Here is a short video clip of Dr. Ben Lynch: Advanced Strategies to Optimize Methylation and Glutathione Pathways

And a short video clip of Richard Deth, PhD: Nutritional Support for Attention and Focus: the Methylation and Dopamine Connection

Here are some of the many other excellent-looking interviews:

  • Jim Adams, PhD: How Diet and the Environment Affect the Gut Microbiome and Nutrient Status
  • Sidney M Baker, MD: Calming Inflammation and Restoring Immune Tolerance through Helminth Therapy
  • Jolene Brighten, ND: Pregnancy and Pre-Pregnancy Autism Prevention
  • Kathleen DiChiara: Sources of Inflammatory Triggers and Toxins in Our Food
  • Richard Frye, MD, PhD: Balance the Web of Methylation, Glutathione and Detoxification Metabolism
  • Mark Hyman, MD: Restoring Immune and Mitochondrial Imbalances
  • Russ Jaffe, MD, PhD: Whole Food Strategies to Balance Digestion and Glutathione Metabolism
  • Kent MacLeod, RPh: Making Sense of Organic Acids and Choline Metabolism
  • Julie Matthews: Nourishing and Anti-Inflammatory Diets for Autism, Including Picky Eaters

You can register here:
https://mutzelnutrition.isrefer.com/go/1129/trudyscottcn

GABA for ending sugar cravings (and anxiety and insomnia)

By 46 Comments

In a recent blog post I shared some feedback from people who have tried various GABA products with success: GABA, the calming amino acid: products and results

Taken orally it works to relax, calm, ease anxiety and social anxiety, quiet the mind, help with insomnia and sleeping better, reduces neck tension, removes uneasiness and worry, and gives hope (as you can read in the above blog post).

What I didn’t mention is that GABA can also reduce and often eliminate cravings totally.

Melissa discovered this was a wonderful side-benefit (we like side-benefits vs side-effects!) when she recently added Source Naturals GABA Calm in anticipation of holiday travel and holiday gatherings.   She recently posted this comment on the above blog:

I’m glad I saw the post about GABA on your FB page a couple weeks ago, which led me to this article. I bought Source Naturals GABA Calm and have been taking 1-3 per day for two weeks. I’m glad I bought it before travelling home for Christmas – I was cool as a cucumber at the airport and was much calmer when visiting family and friends compared to last year! The true test of its efficacy will be in two weeks when the semester starts. For now, I notice a general calmness and am sleeping well.

An unexpected result was that I stopped craving sweets after about a week of taking it! I didn’t even realize this until I was grocery shopping and out of habit walked towards the ice cream – I stopped and realized I didn’t want ice cream. So I walked toward the chocolate – same reaction. For once in my life, I was not craving sweets. I made truffles for a NYE party and only ate two. But what is really shocking is that the leftovers are still in my refrigerator two days later and I haven’t touched them. I don’t understand what is going on! Can this be the GABA Calm (active ingredients: magnesium, GABA, Glycine, L-Tyrosine, Taurine)? I don’t think it’s the small amount of magnesium because I already do magnesium oil foot baths, so I suspect it’s one of the other ingredients.

Thanks so much for this article on GABA and recommendations

I love that she was calm during her travels, was much calmer when visiting family and friends compared to last year and is even sleeping better.   And she is clearly delighted about the lack of sugar cravings!

Here are my answers to her question about those sugar cravings:

  • we can crave for many reasons and one reason can be due to low GABA levels
  • we stress eat (or drink more wine or other alcoholic beverages) when our GABA levels are low
  • by addressing the low GABA levels sugar cravings can disappear completely as in Melissa’s case (ice-cream, chocolates and truffles)
  • the GABA, glycine and taurine actively boost GABA, the magnesium is a co-factor for making GABA and the small amount of tyrosine counters the GABA so you don’t feel too relaxed

In many cases GABA can help partially and you may also need to address low serotonin (you’ll have afternoon/evening cravings), low dopamine (you crave sugar for focus and energy), low blood sugar (you are cranky and have an intense desire for something sweet) or low endorphins (you crave to self-soothe or comfort). Here is the amino acid questionnaire so you can figure out if you may have low levels of any of the above brain chemicals. If you are low, using the correlating amino acids can address both mood issues and cravings.  

You may also need to address candida, dysbiosis or parasites as these factors can also cause sugar cravings since many “bugs” feed off sugar.

I always love to get feedback like this, so thanks to Melissa for sharing! It warms my heart to hear the impact nutrients can have and because I get to share stories like this to give others like you hope!

Update Dec 2016: I’ve written a number of blog posts on GABA since this was published. These hopefully address all the “how does GABA work? it can’t get through the blood brain barrier!” questions I am so often asked, and cover some of the research behind how effective this amino acid can be if your cravings, anxiety and insomnia have low GABA as a root cause:

Do you have a GABA story to share? Or have other nutrients helped you with sugar cravings and/or anxiety?

Julia Rucklidge: Keep access to nutrients with therapeutic benefits

By 5 Comments

vitamins

I’m just passing on this petition via micronutrient researcher Professor Julia Rucklidge:

Something very concerning is developing in New Zealand. It is not unique to NZ – it has already happened in Australia, has been happening in Europe, and it will likely happen in the U.S. and Canada. Under the guise of regulating Natural Health Products (NHPs) to ensure their safety, the NHPs are actually being severely restricted.

In NZ, the government is passing legislation called the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill that will limit access to minerals and vitamins.

The work done in the field of nutritional psychiatry by researchers such as Julia is so valuable and limiting access to nutrients with therapeutic benefits and a good safety record will impact many lives.

You may recall our excellent Anxiety Summit interview on micronutrients to treat anxiety and depression and her very inspiring TEDx talk: The surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health: Julia Rucklidge at TEDx

I signed it, left a comment and am sharing it because:

1) I believe we all have the right to choose what we consume in the way of nutrients

2) I support the work of Dr. Julia Rucklidge and other researchers focused on the growing and valuable field of nutritional psychiatry

3) My clients who have anxiety and panic attacks, and suffer from social anxiety successfully use vitamins/minerals/fatty acids (together with dietary and lifestyle changes) to eliminate their anxiety and should not be denied access to these powerful solutions that address root causes

4) I personally found resolution for my own anxiety and panic attacks with the use of key nutrients and continue to use many to stay in optimal health. I would not want to be denied this choice

This could have worldwide impacts and it’s important that we take a stand. We’d love you to join in and sign the petition and/or leave a comment if it feels like a fit for you, and if you’ve benefited from taking supplements and want continued access to them.

Go here to read more about these valuable nutrients and the petition (and to sign it/comment)

Be sure to check out all the great feedback from people like you who are seeing benefits with vitamins and minerals.

We appreciate signatures, comments and/or shares! Thanks!

Healthy ME Summit: Overcoming Depression and Anxiety

By 10 Comments

healthy-me-summit

The “Healthy ME Summit: Overcoming Depression and Anxiety” online event starts this week!

You will discover 50 of the brightest and most brilliant minds in the field of mental health and wellness. The interviews are a collection of experts, as well as individuals sharing their inspirational personal experiences. The culmination of both of these points of view provides you with the answers and solutions to your mental health challenges.

It runs January 7-17, 2016. It’s being hosted from Australia so keep this in mind with regards to the time difference.

As with other online summits each day’s interviews will be available for FREE for a period of 24 hours. They will begin at 10 A.M. Australian Eastern Time and end the next day 9.59 A.M. Here’s the link for time conversion:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

And here’s an example of the time difference: January 7th 10am Australian Eastern Time is January 6th 3pm Pacific time USA/ 6pm Eastern time USA. If you’re in the USA, this means each day new speakers will air at 3pm Pacific time USA/ 6pm Eastern time USA AND it starts on January 6th!

I recently shared some snippets from the excellent interview with Carolyn Ledowsky, Naturopath, Herbalist, Nutritionist: MTHFR, Depression & Anxiety (her interview is on day 1). You can read more here:
https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/mthfr-depression-and-anxiety-with-carolyn-ledowsky/

Here are a few of the other speakers (including yours truly):

healthy-me-felice-jacka

Professor Felice Jacka, Principal Research Fellow: Does Junk Food Shrink Your Brain (her interview is on day 5)

A healthy diet looks very different in different countries

healthy-me-tom-obryan

Dr. Tom O’Bryan, International Speaker, Educator: How Wheat Harms the Brain (his interview is on day 3)

Every forkful of what you put in your mouth is either inflammatory or anti-inflammatory

healthy-me-therese-kerr

Therese Kerr, Author, Speaker, Health Ambassador: Chemicals in Cosmetics to Avoid (her interview is on day 4)

Fat-soluble chemicals are being passed on to the baby through the mother’s breast milk.

healthy-me-trudy-scott

Trudy Scott, Author, Nutritionist, Food Mood Expert: Nutritional Solutions for Anxiety (my interview is on day 3)

People with digestive complaints such as IBS, food allergies and food sensitivities, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and ulcerative colitis frequently suffer from anxiety and depression.

I’m thrilled to be included in this line-up of experts and I cover how to address anxiety (and depression) using targeted amino acids GABA and tryptophan. I also talk about nutrients for the social anxiety condition called pyroluria (in case you haven’t yet heard me present on these topics – if you have, be sure to tune in to other great interviews).

Hope you can join us! You can learn more and register here:
http://overcomingdepressionandanxiety.com/infuisonsoft.php?p=TrudyScott&w=hme

 

Essential oils to help alleviate anxiety and improve sleep

By 18 Comments

essential oils and anxiety

There are a number of essential oils that are currently in use as aromatherapy agents to relieve anxiety, stress, and depression, and often improve sleep too. Here is some feedback from individuals who use essential oils and share some of their favorites and some ways that they use them.

Tana really likes myrtle and a combination product called Peace and Calming:

My favorite for anxiety is Young Living Myrtle. I originally bought it to use for thyroid support and found it really helped when I felt anxious. Now I wouldn’t be without it. Another favorite of mine is Peace and Calming [which contains tangerine, orange, ylang ylang, patchouli, vetiver, bergamot and some others]

Drew likes to use a blend of oils:

I diffuse a blend of oils including lavender around bed time in my LUMIE Bodyclock Iris 500 which helps create a wonderful calming sleep haven. Low level warm lighting switched on too.

Joy uses her essential oils in candles, incense, or in a homemade spray and shares that she:

loves lavender oil and sandalwood oil for relieving anxiety. I either have them in candles, incense, or in a homemade spray.

Laura has great way of using her essential oils when she is out and about. She shares:

I love lavender, frankincense and geranium (rose geranium when I can find it). I use them in our home and I like to put a couple drops on cotton balls to carry in a sandwich bag. There are times when I like to take them with me.

Evan’s son uses essential oils for anxiety and insomnia:

My son uses Peace & calming with lavender in the diffuser and/or Valor (sometimes vetiver) on his wrists for anxiety and sleepless nights.

There is, of course, research supporting how many of these essential oils help to reduce anxiety. This paper looks at myrtle and the GABA connection: Anxiolytic-like effects and mechanism of (-)-myrtenol and states that:

results suggest that MYR [myrtle] presents anxiolytic-like activity and that effect can be mediated by GABAergic transmission

Here are a few of the many papers supporting aromatherapy for anxiety and stress:

Here is systematic review published October 2015: A Systematic Review of the Anxiolytic-Like Effects of Essential Oils in Animal Models

The essential oil with the best profile is Lavendula angustifolia, which has already been tested in controlled clinical trials with positive results. Citrus aurantium using different routes of administration also showed significant effects in several animal models, and was corroborated by different research groups. Other promising essential oils are Citrus sinensis and bergamot oil, which showed certain clinical anxiolytic actions; along with Achillea wilhemsii, Alpinia zerumbet, Citrus aurantium, and Spiranthera odoratissima, which, like Lavendula angustifolia, appear to exert anxiolytic-like effects without GABA/benzodiazepine activity, thus differing in their mechanisms of action from the benzodiazepines.

Have you used any essential oils for anxiety? I’d love to hear which are your favorites and how you’ve used them? Do you/did you use only essential oils or other approaches to help your anxiety too? Do you continue to use them? Do you recommend them to clients or patients?

I love lavender (it’s in my facewash) and neroli (I use this as a spray instead of using perfume). I also travel with lavender essential oil in case sleep is an issue in noisy hotels.